A candidate in a highly competitive race for a California county seat seemingly was trying to lie her way into office — about her age — before being called out.
Shelina Moreda is running for a seat on the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on the platform of sustainable agriculture and farmworker rights, according to her campaign website. A professional motorcycle racer, she also is the child of a ranching family making her first dip into local politics.
According to voter records, Moreda is 44. Yet the candidate was reluctant to say that when the local newspaper, the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, asked her how old she was.
In a March 12 interview, she initially declined to tell the paper her age. Then, she told her birth year, and only after more prompting by the reporter did she say an age. She said she was 38.
When the Press-Democrat circled back about the discrepancy, Moreda admitted she lied.
Her excuse? It’s a “safety precaution” against stalkers, stemming from her time as one of the few women in her motorcycling career. She claimed she got advice from a lawyer to give out a “privacy birthdate” to avoid the possibility someone could use names and ages to obtain personal details about her.
“That was my only safety net,” Moreda told the Press-Democrat.
She then lambasted the age question as “misogynistic” and having no relevance to running for office.
“To say that I’m not being transparent by trying to protect myself is not being sensitive to the things that women can go through in the public eye,” Moreda added.
Concerns about the age of elected officials are commonplace, including all the way up to presidential races, in terms of how physically and mentally fit one is in order to serve in office. The California Post reached out to Moreda’s campaign for further comment.
The lying may handicap Moreda’s chances of winning her race.
“Shelina is a hard no for me. She started off her campaign lying to the public. That’s an automatic no for me,” one user commented on social media.
“Hasn’t even started and yet already lying,” another user replied.
Moreda’s race now has four candidates competing for an open seat to replace County Supervisor David Rabbitt. The other competitors are Joanna Paun, 47, a school board member; John King, 69, a rancher and operating engineer; and Sylvia Lemus, 60, mayor of Cotati.
The primary election is June 2 while mail voting opens up May 4.
